Japan Trip 6: Hiroshima (6/11/2001)

Monday, June 11, 2001

We had trouble awaking at 5:00 am!  Packed for our next journey.  Yuriko was up to make us breakfast.

We left at 6:00 am to take the subway to Ikebukuro, the Yamanote JR to Tokyo Eki, and finally the Shinkansen Hikari train to Hiroshima, leaving at 7:07 am.  Fortunately, we found scattered seats in a non-smoking, unreserved car.

In the front of each car was an LED sign with messages telling the destination and stops of this train, in Japanese and English.  Recorded voice messages also gave that information along with locations of non-smoking cars, the conductor’s room, and the dining car.

Vending carts came through the cars selling snacks, sandwiches, bento box meals, drinks, and ice cream.  The service employees always bowed to the passengers as they entered and left the car.

We had plenty of leg room, airplane-type folding tables and reclining seats.

At the ends of the cars, we had a choice of Japanese and Western-style toilets.

Hiroshima

The Shinkansen made five or six stops, yet took just over four hours to travel the 500 miles between Tokyo and Hiroshima to the west.  We passed through plains full of rice paddies, and tiny towns of tile-roofed homes.  There were always mountains in the hazy background.

Later we began to travel through the hills, and then the mountains.  We went through long tunnels, glimpsing villages in the valleys between them.  We noticed that the mountain tops were never populated, perhaps because mountains are often sacred in Japan.

Arriving in Hiroshima at 11:15 am,  we walked straight out from the train station, down to the pedestrian underpass to cross the intersection, crossed a bridge and at the next corner was the Hotel Century 21.

Hotel Century 21

We checked in.  Since the room was not ready, we went to the top floor to Suien, a Chinese buffet restaurant.  For Y3,100, the three of us picked from a large selection of dishes (see sidebar).  It was all self-service, including coffee, tea, and water.

Sidebar:

The Chinese buffet offered fish balls, breaded fried meatballs, kimchi, vinegared cucumbers, egg drop soup, fruit, lo mein noodles, fried rice (no white rice!), curried tofu, chicken, beef teriyaki, shrimp in oyster sauce, funny crunchy bumpy things (some type of seafood?), bread rolls full of cream, sesame balls filled with red-bean paste, and strawberry and green tea ice cream.

After lunch, we dropped our bags off in our room.

Peace Memorial Park

The hotel concierge did not speak English, so we had to trust our guidebook notes.  Walking to the next major intersection, we caught the #6 streetcar, paying Y120/adult and Y60/child as we got off at the Gembaku-domu-mae.

Gembaku-domu/Atomic Bomb Dome

The Gembaku-domu is the Atomic Bomb Dome.  This is the twisted, charred skeleton of a concrete and iron structure of the former Industrial Promotion Hall.  It was left as a reminder of the devastation of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima at 8:15 am on August 6, 1945.  The bomb killed 200,000 people, half of the city’s population at the time.  Half the city was leveled, and the rest of the city burned.  A half hour later, it rained, the rain containing radioactive by-products of the blast which actually occurred 1,900 feet above the ground.  

We walked around the rubble of the building, and noted several memorials with colorful paper chains.

On closer inspection, we found the chains were made from folded paper cranes.  A demonstrator was handing out leaflets demanding the apology of the United States.

We walked out on the T-shaped Aichi bridge, the likely target for the bomb, and turned to the island of the Heiwa Kinen Koen, the Peace Memorial Park.

Peace Memorial Park where Brynne checks
out the origami paper crane chains

It was a large, open, pleasant park, with several types of memorials spaced throughout.  At the entrance was the Peace Memorial Clock, which chimes at 8:15 am every morning.

The Peace Memorial Bell was a temple bell that students took turns striking with the pole on a hydraulic arm.

Peace Memorial Bell

There were scores of school groups, and many carried bags full of folded paper cranes to leave as offerings and prayers.

Students with bags of folded paper crane chains

Peace Memorial Mound was also surrounded by paper crane chains, as well as a three-dimensional hot air balloon made with the folded cranes.

Hot air balloon

The park, memorials, and museums are dedicated to “No More Hiroshimas.”

The most famous memorial is the Statue for the A-bomb Children.

Kent and Brynne at the
Statue for the A-bomb Children

It is considered the most profound memorial in the park.  The figure on top was inspired by Sadako, a girl of age 10 who developed leukemia as a result of exposure to atomic radiation.  She had a strong will to live, and believed if she could fold 1,000 senzura, or paper cranes, her illness would be cured.  The crane is a Japanese symbol of good fortune and longevity.  Sadako had completed 664 paper cranes when she died.  Her school mates finished the 1,000 cranes in her memory.

Now, schoolchildren all over the world make paper cranes, and send them here.  This memorial, more than any other, was surrounded by folded paper crane chains, and also had poster-size pictures with words such as “Peace” spelled out using the paper cranes.  The figure atop the memorial was holding a stylized paper crane.

The Peace Flame burns on a bridge over a reflecting pool, and it will not be extinguished until the world is free of all atomic weapons.

The Memorial Centograph

At the end of the reflecting pool was the Gembaku Kinen-hi, or Memorial Centograph.  It was designed by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange.  It resembled a primitive A-frame house of Japan’s earliest inhabitants.  Buried inside is the chest containing the names of those who died in the destruction.  On the exterior is an inscription: “Rest in Peace, for the Error Shall Not Be Repeated.”

Heiwa Kinen Shirokan

The Heiwa Kinen Shiryokan, or the Peace Memorial Museum stretches across one end of the park.  We paid Y50 each to enter, seeing exhibits showing Hiroshima before the bomb, development of the atomic bomb, and reasons why Hiroshima was targeted, as well as a model of Hiroshima after the bombing.  We saw a charred watch stopped at precisely 8:15 am.

There was an exhibit on the people of Hiroshima, the survivors, and their determination to rebuild.  An exhibit kept track of nuclear weapons in the world today.  The Mayor of Hiroshima sends official letters to any country engaging in nuclear testing, asking that all nuclear weapons be abolished.

The development of the Peace Memorial Park was documented.  Every August 6th, the citizens of Hiroshima float paper lanterns on the city’s rivers for repose of the souls of the atomic bomb victims.

There was a gruesome diorama with wax figures illustrating burning victims running through the rubble of the city.  Then displays of charred fragments of clothing, especially student uniforms, a burned lunch box full of ashes, and other items such as tickets, watches, bookbags, etc.

Other displays showed the damage caused by the heat rays which reached temperatures of 5,000 degrees Centigrade, by radiation, and by the high pressure of the blast.  Bottles and tiles were melted. Stone steps were whitened except for the shadow left by a person.  Black rain stained white walls.  Stone walls were crushed and iron shutters were bent.  

There was a display of some of the paper cranes Sadako had folded.  They were tiny.  Apparently she was two-years old when she was exposed to radiation, but the leukemia did not manifest until she was ten.  She had an eight-month struggle with the disease.

A final exhibit showed the plight of the survivors.

As an American at Hiroshima

The Peace Memorial Museum vividly illustrates the death and destruction caused by a nuclear explosion, and strongly supports the need to abolish all nuclear weapons throughout the world.

As to be expected, we suppose, the reasons for using the atomic bomb, as given by the museum, makes the United States seem rather selfish (i.e. to minimize American casualties, and to establish its dominance) and unfeeling (i.e. to measure the effectiveness of the bomb).  We would like to believe the United States had more global humanitarian reasons (see sidebar), and did not realize the awful extent of the effects of the atomic bomb.

Now that we have seen what the A-bomb has done, it is clear that there is no room in this world for it.  But can we go further, working together for world peace, so that there is no reason for it?  

Is this possible in today’s world…?

Sidebar:

The American feeling is that  we had to stop a Japan that was committed to fighting, no matter the cost, a war it had started.  The museum made scarce mention of the militaristic society that typified Japan for 50 years before the bombing.

Shukkei-en

After visiting a drinking fountain and sitting in the shade to recover from the museum, we hopped on the streetcar, and transferred to the old #9 line.  

Our destination was Shukkei-en, a garden laid out in 1630 by Lord Nagakira Asano, a year after he became daimyo (feudal lord) of Hiroshima.  Shukkei-en means “shrink-scenery garden” and is designed to resemble the famous scenic Lake Xihu in Hangzhou, China.  The miniaturized landscape was built by Soko Ueda, a famous tea master.

It is a circular tour garden around the Takuei Pond containing more than 10 islets covered with sculpted pine trees.

Sidebar:

We took the circular garden tour by staying to the right and going counterclockwise.

But the Japanese drive on the left-hand side of the road, and stay to the left when walking, riding escalators, etc.

It took us a few days to get into the habit of staying on the left.

Our first stop was the tiny Seifu pond, surrounded and filled with plants in containers.  It had a stepping stone bridge, and koi (see sidebar).

Brynne on the stepping stone bridge

Sidebar:

Koi, a type of carp, are colorful fish praised for having a long life.

Koi encounter by Brynne

We passed through a wooded area, including a bamboo grove.  

There was an herb garden, with bamboo fencing and borders made from roof tiles.  We climbed the miniature mountain Geiki Peak for a view across the garden.

A tea garden contained tea bushes.  Saw a small “flower-viewing” gazebo, and an even smaller shrine with food, drink, and flower offerings.

We were fascinated with the thatch-roofed Yuyu-tei, which we suspect was used for moon-gazing.

Yuyu-tei/Moon-gazing pavilion

In the center of Takuei Pond was a bridge called Koko-kyo, or straddling rainbow bridge.

Koko-kyo/Bridge

This bridge replaced the original design, on order of the Daimyo Shigeakira Asano in 1783.

We heard the gurgling of the White Dragon Spring, and walked through the Valley of Old Pines.  There was a miniature beach made of stones.

The Seifukan was a teahouse built in the sukiyakuri tea-cottage style.  It had a shingled roof, appearing to be made of bark.

The variety and number of scenic areas in the garden belied the fact that we were on a small piece of land in the middle of a bustling city. 

Shukkei-en/Garden

We took a detour to the Hiroshima-jo, or Hiroshima Castle, which was originally built by Tierumoto Mori in 1589.

Hiroshima-jo/Castle

He named the surrounding flatlands Hiroshima, meaning wide island.  By using the castle as headquarters during World War II, the Japanese army made it a target of the bomb in 1945.  In 1958, only the 5-story don-jon, or tower,  was rebuilt to original specifications.

Gardens in Japan

Garden design is a traditional art which emerged from a mixture of religious, philosophical, and artistic ideas.  

Shintoism, Taoism, and Buddhism all stress contemplation and re-creation of nature as part of the process of achieving understanding or enlightenment.

From Shintoism, Japan’s ancient religion, comes the principles of genu loci (meaning the spirit of a place) and the search for divine presence in natural features such as mountains, trees, and rocks.

The Tao influence on gardening are the islands.  They act as a symbolic heaven for souls who achieve perfect harmony.  Sea turtles and cranes serve these enlightened souls.

Buddhist gardens are settings for meditation, the goal of which is enlightenment.  Zen gardens evolved as spaces to be used exclusively for meditation and growth.  The classic example is the karesansui, or dry landscape, with meticulously placed rocks on raked gravel.  This highly challenging style reflects the intelligence of the designer.

Historically, the first garden designers were temple priests.  Later tea masters created gardens to refine the tea ceremony experience.  The contribution of tea masters is roji, a patch of dewy ground which emotionally and mentally prepares participants of the tea ceremony as they approach the teahouse.  

Initially only the wealthy, nobles, and poets had access to such gardens.  Later the middle class began to be involved, and they made more aesthetic demands.

Gardens in Japan: Other Principles

Shakkei, or borrowed landscape, extends the boundaries of the garden by integrating a nearby attractive feature such as a mountain, grove of trees, a temple roofline, or castle.  The feature could be framed or captured by echoing it with elements of similar shape or color inside the garden.

Mie gakure, or hide and reveal, is a principle which dictates that at no point should all of the garden be visible.  There is always mystery and incompleteness.  Viewers move through the garden to contemplate changing perspectives.

Miniature landscapes depict celebrated natural and literary sites.  Mt. Fuji often inspires a cone of stones or sand.  At Ama-no-hashidate, a string of islands in the sea represent a bridge.  A lone tree can represent a forest.

Symbolism is often used to depict abstract concepts, or myths and legends.  The use of a boulder in a streambed can mean life is full of surmountable difficulties.  Pine trees symbolize stability.  Islands in a pond symbolize paradise or heaven.

Change and movement are important elements of Japanese gardens.  Change can be seen with seasonal variations that plants undergo.  Movement is usually represented with water elements, either real or abstract, such as raked gravel or stone streams.

The gardener aspires to work with nature, to extend or enhance natural beauty, and to create a microcosm of the real world.

Muso Soseki, who designed the gardens at the Saiho-ji, or Moss Temple in Kyoto, allowed the moss to follow the contour of the land, then placed stones and trees.  

Moss, pine trees, maple trees, bamboo groves, small streams, ponds, rocks, stone and sand are used to represent forests, rivers, lakes, islands, and mountains.

Types of Gardens

1) Tsuki-yama, or hill-style, features streams with stepping stones, a bridge to an island in a pond, a twisting path with ever changing scenery and views.

Kaiyu, or many-pleasure-style, uses several gardens built around a central pond.

Ikedon means capturing alive, the principle for framing a view.

2) Cha-niwa are tea gardens, designed to enhance the peaceful, spiritual nature of the tea ceremony.  The garden is called the 4th wall of the teahouse.  Ferns, moss, evergreens, trees, and shrubs are set against a bamboo fence.  Stone lanterns line the path where one walks along the asymmetrical stepping stones to the teahouse.

Machiai is the “waiting room.”  It is separated from the inner garden around the teahouse by a chumon, or small gate.

The inner garden has a stone basin to wash hands and rinse the mouth before entering the teahouse.

The most famous tea gardens are at Kinkaku-ji and the Katsure Imperial Villa in Kyoto.

3) Kare-sansui are the waterless stream gardens.  It is the Zen-style, a flat garden.  It is meant to mimic ink-line art, using raked gravel, sand, stones, shrubs, and trees.

At the famous Ryoan-ji Zen Garden in Kyoto, the stones are seen as mountain tops above the clouds, or islands in the sea.

The Daisen-in Zen Garden is one of the earliest and most famous.  It was built for the abbot’s residence at Daisen-in, a subtemple of Daikotu-ji in Kyoto.  It is meant to be viewed from the veranda, and is a 3-dimensional representation of a Song-style painting of Mount Horai, a river, and a boat with a cargo of treasure.

Zen gardens are not affected by changes in season.  They gave the monks a sense of calm for eternity.  These gardens were meant for meditation.

Manners

• Bow upon meeting a person.
• Remove shoes to go indoors (can wear socks and indoor slippers).
• At a restaurant, the hot towels are meant only to wash hands, not your face.  When finished, fold it neatly.
• Do not blow your nose in public.  Sniffing is okay.
• No tipping.
• Do not point or gesture with chopsticks, or lick the ends of the chopsticks.  
• Do not double dip (you usually have your own dipping dish, anyway).
• Pick up the soup and rice bowls to your mouth, rather than bend down to the bowl on the table.
• Slurping is okay, and recommended to cool hot liquid as it enters your mouth.
• Never pour your own drink.  
• Always pour the other person’s drink.
• Sauces are meant for light dipping (i.e. touch an edge of the food with the sauce), not dunking (dropping the food into the sauce!).

Hotel Century 21

We walked back to the hotel along a shopping avenue, checking out department and sports stores.  We never did find baseball caps with Japanese team logos.  When we found any caps, they had American team logos, or other brand logos.  A big-sell logo was that of the [Soccer] World Cup 2002, to be played in a new stadium in Tokyo.

We stopped at a convenience store for drinks and snacks.  We were not hungry for a full dinner.  Kent went on to explore another department store, and an electronics mall, while Brynne and Tamiko returned to the hotel.  The hotel provided slippers, and yukatas (light cotton kimonos) with sashes.  The bathroom had shampoo, conditioner, and body soap in dispensers.  There were also packaged toothbrushes, razors, hairbrushes, and shower caps.

We had three twin beds in our triple room.

Hotel Century 21 room

A nightstand console had a built in radio, and switches to control the lights and the window drapes!

Nightstand console

There was a mini-refrigerator, and a TV.  Brynne accidentally switched to an X-rated channel, but apparently switched away quickly enough that we weren’t charged for it!

The desk had a book of Buddha’s teachings in a drawer, instead of a Bible!